super early alpha for a game about cleaning planets of all fauna so that holiday resorts can be built

BASICS:-build turrets near cores to fill the capture bar-fill the capture bar to win waves-defend your base from destruction-make money by destroying enemies-do research between waves

CONTROLS:-right mouse button build-left mouse button to start wave/bomb-scroll or the digits select what to build-things in the mouse area repair

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IN DEPTH:-capture more cores to fill the capture bar quicker-when the capture bar is full enemies stop spawning, kill all enemies or survive for a short time after this to win the wave

-turrets inside the mouse area repair

-cores explode instantly when touched by enemies

-beating a wave gives you $100 (or more with the right upgrades)-beating a wave with all 4 cores untouched that wave gives you a $50 bonus-50% of the cost of any destroyed turret is refunded at the end of a wave (or more with the right upgrades)

-the line moving to the left on the capture bar indicates when the next spawnpoint will go hardcore-hardcore spawnpoints spawn more and grey enemies-grey enemies don't give you any money when killed

-research is divided in three distinct trees: defense, attack and science-defense are upgrades based on your turrets and base defense-attack are upgrades based on active player actions and bombing-science are upgrades based on your economy and other clever things

So I got quite far in this. Its REALLY fun but... the laaag. Oh GOD the laaag! This game needs a slogan-The laaag is your friend. Seriously. Also, bomb factories.

The lag is your friend because its easier to bomb while there is lag.

I think I might have gotten farther than the coders and I think I know whyWell there's your problem.

Mainly there were 4 things that bothered me in this game. They are fairly big problems but they should be easy to fix... maybe. This is not a review. I am suggesting some things and pointing out bugs/problems that should be dealt with

1: The laaag. Fix it. I don't know how. Perhaps rite a 200 line code that makes all of the enemies into drawn objects and not instances. Just please, fix it. I want to blast the darn creeps and this game needs to be made as good as possible!

2: The small screen - is too small. It should be a bit bigger.

3: Bombs- they cheated us. Once you get all of the bomb upgrades the bombs are a game breaker. You can just spam bomb factories and have no turrets at all and you can still win levels. I think some enemies should be able to survive bombs. So that I cant spambomb them out of the sky.

4: The difficulty.... . No really,the difficulty is quite easy. Maybe its just me but in that top picture there I won the entire level without even USING any bombs though the bombs are still a game breaker. I think this might get fixed what with more interesting enemies coming along(Maybe some that spread goo so you cant build there or ones that catch fire if shot and don't die at first etc...) but I ant you to not think that the game maybe too hard. A game is NEVER too hard unless somewhere out there, there is someone who can beat it.

And yes, I got to level 29

I didn't try continuing because the game was too laggy. Sorry. I hope this gets finished. Cheers!

Played to about wave 17 then got bored. By then I had gotten quite some upgrades and the game got repetitive.

Had to get a hang of it first. I didn't notice the spawn points at first. When I did I was able to place my turrets much more strategic. Before that I went game over in the first round a couple of times. The hardcore slider is a nice touch.

I'd say the game needs more variation as you progress. Once I figured it out I picked one style (upgrade armor, decrease cost and spawn base turrets in a hearth shape when I have the cash) and sticked with that the entire game. I only used bombs to try them out (didn't really need them). As options opened up I chose the better unit options and area etc.

I would be nice if the game would challenge my chosen style more so each couple of waves forces me to rethink my strategy. Right now it just get's easier and easier as I earn more cash quicker and get stronger. Enemy and unit diversity would help but I also think my first primary options should become obsolete quite fast or have a different use during the later waves so I don't stick to the same pattern.

Turrets cluster up fast. This gave me a rush at first cause it's awesome to have such a large artillary but as it grows easier it felt less impressive. Forcing the clusters to break up after a while might be a nice change.

Last think to note: I was placing units the entire time by clicking with the right mouse button on the buildings. It's only in the last minute that I noticed I was able to place them anywhere I wanted. I dunno why I didn't figure it out earlier.

i think some mass destruction towers would fit nicely, since there are hordes of enemies..

also, regarding the difficulty.. it feels kinda easy.if some of the enemies were to gather at a point, (not directly rushing to the base)and when it reaches about 50 units they would rush to the base at once. just a suggestion

Got bored at level 22 at which point I bought all the upgrades that didn't have the stop sign on them. Does the stop sign mean I can't buy them? I didn't try but at the end I noticed they have a description like all other upgrades.

I so wish you stopped using game maker, then I could enjoy sounds and better performance on those sweet sweet games you make :C

I'm running Linux so I play through Wine, that's why I get no sound (was the same with SCB).

About my playstyle, I just made 4 giant turret clusters at each generator (they were not connected) and a cluster of factories around the base, expanding each cluster depending on where there was the most enemies.

By level 10 or something I had so many turrets and money was going in so quickly that I stopped bothering building regular turrets instead focusing on those upgraded ones.

At first I discarded all the bomb upgrades thinking I should first focus on passive defences. I think in a shorter run it is best to focus on one or the other but as it is I can just pick all the upgrades.It would be nice if they were more tiered, so that I have access to the best only if I bought the corresponding basic ones first. Although that might not work well with your idea of dynamically dealing with challenges.

I like it! Reminds me of a lo-fi version of Revenge of the Titans, without so much spammy clickclickclick you need in that one to win. Suggestions:

* Add health bars to the turrets and maybe small ones on the enemies * I assume other maps are coming eventually? * I personally found that surviving was based on getting lucky spawn directions that corresponded with my already placed turrets. After a few waves (~5) there were enough spawns that I would have needed to repeatedly get them in the same direction to survive (so i could just drop all my turrets in one spot). Could someone clue me in on what I'm doing wrong? * Would be cool to see a couple more turret types (maybe a splash one, or a shockwave type turret, or a buff turret) * Agree with the idea that upgrades should be tiered -- maybe split them into Turrets (turret unlocks and upgrades), Actives (things you can do with the mouse), and Utility (things like the Friends In Washington upgrade) categories? * Would like a way to restart the game without restarting exe, though it's not that much of a pain atm

This makes me want to get working on the groundwork for my own type of defense game

Just wondering, is this gonna be Vlambeer's next project or just something you're working at on the side?

Edit: yeah it did get easy after I got the idea down. Definitely needs a bit more depth and a few more turret/enemy types.